For years I have proclaimed I don’t care for Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t a lie. I didn’t need extra romance. My life was pretty darned exciting. Adding flowers and sparkly jewellery and fizz and special meals was surplus to requirements. But I have noticed, as I age, indeed, as my life has become steadily more domesticated, that I do want to be shown a little extra special affection once a year. And I don’t care that Valentine’s Day is contrived. Really I don’t. READ MORE

What does love feel like? When I was 15 and fell in love for the first time with a thud and a clang it made me feel sky high. A heady combination akin to gas and air, red wine and altitude sickness. Food repelled me, so satiating was this new sensation. Concentration was not mine. I had face ache from smiling too much. I was of course the first person to discover this feeling and NOBODY understood.

And of course when he ditched me for an older girl who was altogether more exciting, with raven hair, a flat of her own and a beaten up denim jacket with untold stains that told hair raising stories, well I thought the very core of me was dropping through to my feet, never to be returned again. It hurt. So much. Physically. Ouch.

Thank goodness that pain was never to be repeated. The only good thing to have come from this experience? I am truly empathetic to heartbreak. Come those teenage years I will never, ever, ever tell my sons to ‘get a grip’ in the face of gut wrenching love sickness.

I offer you Love cupcakes. The crunch of the simple, pure chocolate, the softness of the sponge and the surprise caramel centre make these perfect for surprising the one you love. Just make sure they’re worthy of your affections. And beware of raven haired temptresses beginning with the letter S.

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3 and check there’s a rack in the middle of the oven. Then beat the flour, almonds, sugar, marg/butter, eggs and vanilla together until light and creamy. Takes about 4 minutes in a stand mixer. More by hand with a wooden spoon. Divide between 12 cupcakes cases lining your tin and then bake in the centre of the oven until just starting to brown and when a toothpick comes out of the middle cupcake clean. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

When cool take an apple corer and remove the centres of the cakes, being careful not to go all the way down to the bottom. If you accidentally do remove the whole plug of cake then cut a bit off and poke it back into the cake hole. No one will know.

It’s so gloopy it may well get stuck on the top so help it along with a poke and a jiggle. And as for leftover caramel… use it to fill a victoria sponge. To make ice-cream sundaes. To make banoffee mini pavs. Or just eat. Or slather it on your hair as a conditioner. I don’t actually know if this last idea works but it might do.

Then melt your chocolate in the microwave or over boiling water, you know what kind of melter you are. Carefully spoon a teaspoon onto each cake, then a little more if the Love Cake can take it. Pop whatever decoration you have on the top and leave to set. Eat with love, with people you love.

For all those people who scoff at Valentine’s Day, look away now. These truffles are unashamedly pink and cute and all the things that frankly I am not. I’ve never been a pink girl. I even had a conversation once about where one might buy black clothing for baby girls. It is perhaps a blessing that I am the mother of boys. There is one less goth baby in the world as a result.

But hey, it’s Valentine’s Day so let’s kitsch it up. And let’s get really sticky. And let’s drink the rest of the bottle of Baileys on ice with the person we love most, be that husband, wife, lover, mother, father, brother, sister or best friend. Maybe not the dog. I think the RSPCA would have something to say about that and quite rightly so. I do think Valentine’s affection should be extended beyond romantic love though. And as this makes about a million truffles then you may need to extend the love pretty far to people you only mildly like. Feel free to scale the recipe down if you only like your husband or best friend, or even just yourself.

Makes: About 25 truffles but it all depends on size. Mine were about a tablespoon’s amount.

Adapted from this recipe which was taken from this marvellous book which I urge you all to buy as a gift for Valentine’s Day.

Ingredients:

150mls Baileys

310g sultanas

300g dark chocolate (please don’t substitute this for milk as it really affects the sweetness and we already have condensed milk in these little beauties)

50g milk chocolate

397g sweetened condensed milk

75g butter

2 tbsp golden syrup

155g rich tea biscuits, crushed into pieces about 1cm across

100g mini marshmallows

Sprinkles and glittery stuff to roll the truffles in

Firstly measure out 100mls of the Baileys and pop in a saucepan with the sultanas. Heat on the hob until the booze is absorbed by the dried fruit. Remove from the heat and pop to the side for later. Heat the rest of the Baileys, both lots of chocolate, the condensed milk, butter and syrup in a saucepan on the hob until completely molten and smooth. Add the sultanas, biscuits and marshmallows and stir until all covered. Pop onto a lined tray and leave in the fridge until set – takes a few hours so maybe leave overnight.

When it’s set, and remember that this never sets like a normal fridge cake as it has a whopping 150mls of Baileys in it, you need to get ready for the sticky rolling factory line up. Have one plate with loads of sprinkles on and another larger one covered in greaseproof paper that will fit in your fridge to keep the truffles cool and firm and truffle like. Take about a tablespoons worth of fridge cake, roll into a ball in your palms and then roll in sprinkles. Lastly place on the greaseproof paper covered plate.

That’s it. Now enjoy. I also completely forgot to tell you that my husband bought me the best Valentine’s Day pressie ever the first year we met. A huge bottle of Malibu, full fat coke and loads of unpasteurised cheese from a little place in Wales. Unfortunately I was pregnant already. Still, he won huge brownie points for originality. Not a heart shaped chocolate in sight.

Holly Bell

I’m a mum of 3 boys, a cookbook writer and also a finalist on the 2011 Great British Bake Off.
I’ve decided to record the recipes I use, partly to save them somewhere and partly in case someone else might like to use them...
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